They call me Kain
My name is
Kain, that's not always what people called me though. Before I joined the ranks of the Baronian Dragoons I was known by
another name. Someone once told me
though that that name which I had was that of a coward's and not of a
warrior's; so on that day I decided to become Kain. Unlike most Dragoons who armed themselves with swords and shields
I took up the spear; some people told me I was being a fool, because only
useless grunts used spears. I didn't listen to them, you see I heard one day
that the ancient Dragoons and the first Dragoon and all of the True Dragoon
carried lances and spears with them into battle. When I heard this, I knew that was the weapon for me to take up.
One thing
about me that you must understand is along the road to becoming a Dragoon I
learned one simple truth, trust no one.
Through 10 years of living as a Dragoon in Baron I became the second in
command of the dragoons and one day my master the head of all Dragoons died,
and I took his place. For my first
mission as head of all Dragoons. The
mission I was on took me near the heartland of Fabul, with three other Dark
Knights and five more Dragoons, one of these dark nights was an up an coming
man named Cecil, he was the man that broke my philosophy in two. After about days of the mission we where
ambushed by 15 of Fabul's near-legandary Karate masters. Everyone there died except Cecil and I, he
only suffered a cracked rib, I did far worse though. Cecil saw that I was still alive though, so he dragged me into a
nearby forest where he protected me until I was well enough to make it back to
where the air-ship would pick us up.
After this
experience I realized two things, one I had life-debt to Cecil, and two I
needed more training. So I took leave
from Baron, to train on my own terms but, I promised that I would come back,
and every Dragoon there knew that my word was my life. I went to the high mountains north of Baron,
there I trained from sunup to sundown only giving myself breaks to eat, drink,
and sleep. One day though I realized
though that I could never succeed unless I was willing to sacrifice every
thing, to surrender completely to everything and everyone; that day I jumped
off of the cliff, only to be blown straight back up and dropped on a nearby
cliff. During that time I could feel
the wind cradling me, and empowering me, I could feel it's power, and it said
to me as it raised me up. "You are, our son.
Jump and we are there." From
that day forward every time I jumped the wind caught me brought me up on high
and dropped me to dive as swift as justice.
With that I thought that I had trained as much as I could, and I scaled
down the mountain back to the city of Baron.
The first
thing I did when I got back was to find out what had happened to Cecil in those
three frozen years I had spent up in the mountains. What I heard was that he had been given command of the Red Wings,
the barionian air force, a few seconds later I saw him walking through the
halls with the captain of the guard, Banon.
I followed them until they entered the Throne room. There in the anteroom I waited patiently at
the door I put my ear against it and I heard the King and Cecil arguing over
the taking of the Crystal of Water from the city of mysidia. I decided to help my only friend convince
our beloved King of his error, and also that Cecil was still loyal, only
concerned. However, after two seconds of
my carefully thought through dialogue the King commanded me to be quite. Then he gave us, as penance I though at the
time, the chore of delivering a package to the village of Mist. I obeyed, though I was confused as to whom
to give it to, but I soon realized that that did not matter. After defeating a Mist Dragon in the cave
that lead us to the Mist village, we arrived only to have the "package" open
itself as we entered the center of town.
Before I realized what was going on the entire village was on fire,
though it wasn't natural fire, nor was it the kind of fire conjured up by black
magi, no this fire was created by demons that sprang forth from the
package. Cecil and I realized what was
going on, Mist was famous for it's summoners (those that could call forth
beasts to fight for them at will) though these summoners opposed the Baronian
Empire. I saw them battling the demons
that I had let loose upon this village, I fought the demons in the town with
Cecil at my side, soon though Cecil spotted a small girl about to be consumed
by the flaming wrath of a demon. Though
before we arrived she summoned a great giant to save herself, the giant slammed
it's fist into the ground causing the earth to quake and shiver, that was the
last thing that I truly remembered before Cecil woke me up in the tower of Zot.
Though, I
do remember bits and pieces of my time in between these two long separated
dates. One vivid memory was waking up
to see a giant figure of a man standing before me, he was covered with black armor
as dark as midnight; I remember he called himself, Golbez, though I simply
called him master. Another thing I can
remember was inside of the palace in Fabul, the Baronians had just laid siege
there and I was to capture the crystal of air inside. As soon as I reached the crystal's throne, there he was waiting
for me looking at me like I was the scum of the world, my veins coursed with
hate for that man, and his soon-to-be wife Rosa, how she found him I knew
not. He talked to me as though we were
friends, I would have no part of it. I
leaped through the near roofless throne room and flew down upon Cecil, my spear
thrust through his chest made me laugh.
Then I realized that behind me my master had entered. I bowed before him as I though the entire world
should and I watched him dispatch the infidels who stood by that now near-dead
Cecil. I watched and grinned as my
master took the object of Cecil's affection with him, she kicked and she
screamed, but his grip, I knew, was that of icy stone; for before, I had felt
it myself. The next blotched out memory
is that of myself meeting Cecil on board an airship that he had just captured
with the help of that traitor Cid, the so called master engineer of Baron. I could be wrong, but I think I arrested him
personally. Cecil looked different know
though, instead of being covered in the gothic plate of a Dark Knight, he was
know in a glowing, haloed looking piece of mail, and his helm did not cover his
face like it used to. I then looked at
Cecil's newly revealed face, which I had never even seen before, and told him
the orders that my master had for him.
He and his "friends" were to bring the Crystal of Earth from Toria to my
master in exchange for his, beloved. He
looked at me, nodded his head in recognition of the offer and then he shouted
futilely at me, "Wake up Kain!"
The next
thing I knew I was in the Tower of Zot helping Cecil and his friends defeat the
Fiend of the Wind that called herself Valvolas. After we defeated her was when I first realized what I had done,
what I had been thinking. At that point
I was willing to hand over my life to Cecil, for I had life-debt to him and I
betrayed him. So to help purge my sins
as best as I could I went with him to the underworld in order to help him
combat the forces of my former master.
There I met Rydia, the girl who had caused the terrible calamity in
Mist. I nearly wept when I saw her, but
then I remembered that I could not weep for I had no emotion left in me.
I continued
to journey with the Cecil's group.
After Rydia came with us, we journeyed through the Tower of Babil, and
then we went through the Ruins of Eblan, to again journey through that Tower,
for this time, we knew that inside was where Golbez kept all of the crystals
that he had collected. After we had
failed in doing that, we found ourselves an airship inside of the tower and
went back to the underground to aid the dwarves more. In order to do this, we went to the sealed cave, to put the
crystal of darkness, in safekeeping.
We had just
captured the crystal and were leaving the cave when I heard him call out to me,
"Kain, Kain, Bring me the crystal." I
heard the voice over and over in my head a hundred times, but before I could
realize anything that I was doing I had taken the crystal and had run with it
to Golbez's waiting arms. I had
betrayed the only man I had ever trusted for the second time.
The next
thing that I knew I was within the Giant of Babel. That was what the eight crystals unlocked when brought together,
a war machine that's only mission was to wipe away all shreds of human life on
the planet. Though, suddenly, like
lightning crashing through my skull I was released from Golbez's grasp. I ran from the control room to see what was
going on only to find the burnt and smoldering remains of the Giant's CPU in
front of me; and in front of it, was Cecil and his companions, and behind it
the man who was now the sum of all my hatred, and wishful ness for vengeance,
Golbez. He was talking with a man who
didn't look like any human I had ever seen, later I learned that this was
FuSoYa, the Lunarian. I was about to
pounce on this being of pure evil when I realized that it was not the dark
Golbez of death, chaos, and darkness standing before me. This was a man who had just awakened from a
long sleep just like I had. I stood
back as the Lunarian and Golbez walked right by me and to the only way
out. I yelled at Cecil to follow me to
safety, for the giant without its CPU would soon explode. He and the rest of his companions looked at
me with contempt in their eyes. Though
they must have realized that, like Golbez, I had just woken up as well. They followed me and I was proud of the fact
that I lead them to safety. When we had
reached a nearby airship commanded by none other than Cid himself I informed
them of what happened to me and they in turn told me of what had happened to
them. They had found a ship, called the
big whale, which could take them to the place where the Lunarians lived; our
second moon, the one that looked a giant ruby.
I learned that there, one Lunarian had seized control of everything and
wished to exterminate all humans on earth so that they could live on our
earth. This Zemus as he was called was
the one that had controlled myself, along with Golbez. At this point my heart cried out for
justice, retribution, vengeance, and above all else, revenge.
I went into
the heart of the big whale and traveled with my friends to what we had thought
was the Earth's second moon. Though as
soon as I came out onto the moon, I saw how barren, desolate, arid, dry, and
nearly uninhabitable it was. Though I
put these thoughts away for this moment.
When the Big Whale landed on the Ruby Moon we made our way to the place
where the Lunarians lived. There the
once marvelous city had been transformed into a hideous dungeon, filled with
the most vile, evil, hideous demons that I had ever seen, and I thought up to
that point that I had seen them all.
The further we went into this palace of darkness the more I could hear
what I thought sounded like heartbeats.
The closer to the core of this moon I got soon I could hear it as if it
were mine own, but the rest of these weary travelers could not. Closer and closer we traveled to the core
of our problems, the core of evil, the core of the moon, and the closer we came
the fiercer the demons became, it soon became obvious to me that the beating
was that of his heart, and I could hear that we were getting closer. Then at last we came to the core itself,
before us stood three men, Golbez, FuSoYa, and Zemus. Golbez and FuSoYa let loose their strongest magics at Zemus but,
to no avail. Then they let loose a
spell together combining the holiest of white magics and the deadliest of black
magics, it was called the white meteo.
We thought this defeated him But, then he awoke and transformed into
something hideous. Golbez was forced to
unleash a new power, which originated from a crystal. Then Zemus laughed and shouted, "You, the one of darkness, you
cannot wield the sacredness of the crystal, you are mine!" Zemus unleashed his full fury and everyone
including myself was left unconscious and maybe fallen to the grave.
Though
suddenly I was awake. I looked around
and noticed that everyone was except Golbez and FuSoYa, and we were all looking
at Cecil; he was holding the crystal and was glowing with a sacredness all his
own. He let loose the sacred power of
the crystal on Zemus and this time it took effect; turning the evil Zemus, into
the embodiment of evil, Zeromus, the crystal made him show his true
colors. He was a demon true, and
true. We battled him for what seemed
like ages, but the demon did die at our feet like all the others we had
encountered. We traveled back to our
Earth with the big whale, but the moon called out to me with its bleakness and
despair, the exact match to what was in my heart. Though I went back to Earth all the same, I didn't even deserve
the bleakness, I had betrayed the only man I had ever trusted the one I held life-debt
to, thrice. Once when I nearly killed
him at Fabul, twice when I thought of trying to take the most precious part of
Rosa, and Thrice when I took the crystal of Darkness from him at the sealed
cave.
When we got
back to Earth I took my leave of this group that I had been traveling with. For they were all returning to their own
lives, in their own places of living, but I had no place to return to. I had no home, no family, no real friends in
my own mind, I didn't even have honor for my soul was so coated with sin. All that I had was the armor of the True
Dragoon, and the Lance of White.
I wandered
throughout the Earth never stopping in one place longer than it took me to lie
down and rest for the night. The world
was peaceful now though. With Cecil on
the Baronian throne and Rosa as his queen they had formed an alliance of the
ten nations. Soon everything on the
planet was dominated by one part of this Alliance or another, and because of
that peace prevailed. Though I was
still a warrior, a Dragoon, and there is so little for a warrior to do in a
world of total peace. One day when I
was standing on the mountainside looking at the world around me, I took off my
mask to look with pure vision that was when I came to the conclusion that I was
not a true Dragoon yet, and that I had done everything but one, in order to
become that true Dragoon. So for three
days I meditated on the top of the largest peak in the world, the wind hollered
and I could here the voices of thousands, millions, tens of millions of people
from across the Earth. This must be the
center of the winds, I decided, this is the point where all wind is brought
back and carried from.
Standing up
after these three days brought it's own pain, both physical and mental. I jumped off of the peak and onto onto a
flat plain below, but I could still here everything that I heard back on the
peak. Everywhere I went the voices they
followed me they were driving me crazy, I couldn't even sleep. For what seemed like an eternity, I
wandered, trying to get rid of the voices, suddenly though before me I saw a
statue of a man in wearing armor and mask, carrying a spear, all exact to mine;
he looking up towards the winds. The
voices stopped when they saw him. I
kneeled before this great statue not just because of my realization that this
must be the legendary First Dragoon, but also because of the release of my mind
from the voices. I looked up again at
the statue, but my eyes stopped at the base.
There I noticed something inscribed in the bottom in an ancient tongue,
but one that had been taught to me. "To
those he who reads this, know that you have been broughten here by the winds,
and the winds alone. They spoke to you,
guiding you to me. Know now that all
you must do now is awaken me from my slumber."
I stood up and stared at the statue and then I remembered the ancient
oath of the Dragoon. I spoke it before
him, "Dien ty uinz, Dien hbain, Dien Yallgr, Task bva omnia mori temble do ya
vall ya ua Medus." After I spoke the
words, all I could see was a blinding light and I heard a great voice from on
high, calling me. "Kain, Kain, you are Dragoon now and for all time, take off
your mask, know that you are no longer who you were. For you have lived two lives, forget them both. For now I give you your third. Your hands are cleansed, go and live not the
life of the warrior you think you are, but as the Dragoon, you know you
are. Embrace it for the world changes
everyday. And the weak and innocent are
always in need of protection."
The light
was gone and I was standing before Cecil in the forest where he had healed
me. Then I was in the village of Mist,
an Inferno surrounding me. Then I was
in the Crystal's throne in Fabul, Cecil with me spear thrust through him before
me. Then I was on an airship speaking
to him of Rosa. Then I was with Rosa
and Golbez. Then I thousand more
memories pilled into my head and then the light and the voice returned to me
and said, "I wash your blooded hands, I
bathe your mudded feet, I cleanse your
soul unpure, awaken and know that your sin is forgiven. Your third life has begun." I screamed for what I had been washed,
bathed, and cleansed in, was the fires of heaven.
* * *
"Kain, no
it can't be, what do you think?"
"No it
could never be him."
"He does
look like a Dragoon."
Kain then
opened his eyes and asked, "Who are you? Where am I? What's going on? Tell me
now!" A man and a woman were standing
above him.
The man
answered, "I am called Dekan, and this is Phantine. You're in the valley of Mist.
And what's going on is that we are waging a war against the evil
Alliance, and its tyrannical Guardian.
We heard that you were buried here.
I will be honest, and tell you that, we were going to take your, legendary
equipment, to help us fight the Alliance.
You are Kain? Aren't you?"
"Yes, they
call me Kain. An evil Alliance you said; good... this will be my chance to
prove that I am true Dragoon." Then I
whispered to myself. "I am Dragoon,
always."
"Those who send
reviews shall be karmicly rewarded."
-Kain DeLuman
